Soaring Saskatoon temperatures raise concerns over health and safety
Saskatoon and parts of northern Saskatchewan are seeing unseasonably hot temperatures this week and that has the city on alert as the heat poses concerns along with the smoke. Cooldown centres are set up around the city for those who need to escape the heat.
For those who can’t get into an air-conditioned place, the city has activated the extreme emergency response plan to help them cope.
It runs until Wednesday, according to Pamela Goulden-McLeod, director of emergency management with the City of Saskatoon.
“That activates our partner organizations, and there’s many of them that work with people that experience homelessness, so that they have access to water cooling locations, but we also want residents to reach out and check in with those around them who might be older adults,” Goulden-McLeod told CTV News.
Those locations to cool down include libraries, Egadz Youth Centre and the food bank. The complete list is available on the city’s website.
“There are also leisure centres, paddling pools, spray parks, lots of our partner organizations like the Friendship Inn have cooling locations, so there’s four pages of cooling options for people,” she said.
For those who work outside, there are also challenges in this heat.
Jakob Philipchuk who works on Broadway taking care of things like flower boxes adjusts his work schedule when it gets extremely hot.
“We take more frequent breaks when it gets hotter,” Philipchuk says.
But for him this current blast of heat is nothing he can’t work around.
“I usually start around 8:00 a.m. but when it’s really hot I’ll start at 7:00 a.m. When I’m watering plants it can get really hot because I’m standing still, so I have a sunburn all the time,” he says. But it’s nothing extra sunscreen can’t rectify.
Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-30s on Wednesday. It doesn’t quite reach the bar for Environment Canada to issue a warning, which involves various factors like evening temperatures staying above 16 and two consecutive days of 32 or more, but it’s still cause for caution.
“It will be close, but not reaching extreme criteria. It is hot. Well above normal,” Sara Hoffman, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada told CTV News.
The average temperature at this time of year is in the low 20s.
There is a difference when assessing hot weather now, according to Hoffman because of the climate change factor which means more forest fire smoke to contend with.
“You’ll have two compounding factors there that can interact to cause a lot of health concerns for folks,” Hoffman says.
In the case of heat, residents are told to open windows to get air flowing, but the opposite is true for keeping smokey air at bay. Coping methods to deal with heat and smoke are contradictory, she adds.
There is a break expected Thursday, with more seasonal temperatures on the way and possibly some rain.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Catherine, Princess of Wales, 'doing what I can to stay cancer free' after finishing chemotherapy
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has said she has completed her chemotherapy and is 'doing what I can to stay cancer free,' as she plans to return gradually to public life in the months ahead.
WATCH LIVE Hockey community, family and friends mourn brothers John and Matthew Gaudreau at their funeral
Mourners have begun to arrive for the funeral for John and Matthew Gaudreau at a church in suburban Philadelphia on Monday.
BREAKING 'Peter Nygard is a sexual predator:' Former fashion mogul sentenced to 11 years in prison
Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The sentence was handed to Nygard, 83, by Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein in Toronto on Monday. Last November, a jury found Nygard guilty of four counts of sexual assault following a six-week trial.
'My path to healing and full recovery is long': Read the full message from Catherine, Princess of Wales
Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced Monday she is 'cancer free,' after completing chemotherapy treatment. Here is her message in full.
Amid threat of Air Canada pilots strike, what should you do if your flight gets cancelled?
Thousands of passengers could be stranded as early as Sunday if Air Canada doesn't reach a deal with its pilots' union. Here's what you can do if labour disruptions affect your flight.
Vietnam storm deaths rise to 64 as flooding sweeps away a bus, causes a bridge to collapse
A bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding in Vietnam on Monday, raising the death toll in the Southeast Asian country to at least 64 from a typhoon and subsequent heavy rains that also damaged factories in export-focused northern industrial hubs, state media reported.
Hunt widens for man who allegedly threw scalding coffee on baby
A man wanted for allegedly throwing scalding coffee on a baby in an unprovoked attack at a park in the northern Australian state of Queensland is now the subject of an international manhunt.
How did a popular Philippine televangelist land on the FBI's most-wanted list?
The 74-year-old preacher Apollo Carreon Quiboloy and four co-accused surrendered Sunday in his religious stronghold in the south. An expanded U.S. indictment in 2021 charged Quiboloy with having sex with women and underage girls and sex trafficking by force, among other crimes.
Air Canada begins preparations for shutdown due to 'inflexible' union demands
Air Canada is finalizing plans to suspend most of its operations, likely beginning Sunday, as talks with the pilot union are nearing an impasse over 'inflexible' wage demands, the country's largest airline said on Monday.